concurring:
I concur in the judgment of the court. For the reasons stated by the court and the dissent in Reider, I predict that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania would hold that the Commonwealth Court has jurisdiction to entertain Burkett’s claim. I am unable to join the opinion of the court, however, because I think any other avenue to relief for Burkett is barred by authoritative precedent. As the court properly concludes, the Post Conviction Relief Act is not applicable. In addition, under current Pennsylvania law, Burkett cannot seek review of a parole denial in a state habeas corpus1 or mandamus *143proceeding.2
Before: SLOVITER, Chief Judge, BECKER, STAPLETON, MANSMANN, GREENBERG, SCIRICA, COWEN, NYGAARD, ALITO, ROTH, LEWIS, MeKEE, and WEIS,* Circuit Judges.SUR PETITION FOR REHEARING
The petition for rehearing filed by appellant in the above-entitled case having been submitted to the judges who participated in the decision of this Court and to all the other available circuit judges of the circuit in regular active service, and no judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing, and a majority of the circuit judges of the circuit in regular active service not having voted for rehearing by the court in banc, the petition for rehearing is denied.
Judge Mansmann would have granted rehearing.
. In Commonwealth ex rel. Biglow v. Ashe, 348 Pa. 409, 35 A.2d 340 (1944), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a parole denial could not be challenged using a writ of habeas corpus. "[T]his court cannot review the actions of the Parole Board in denying him parole ...; neither can we pass on the fairness and impartiality of the hearing he had before the Parole Board.” Id. 35 A.2d at 341. This holding has not been *143overruled, limited, or weakened in the half-century since it was handed down.
. Mandamus will not lie to compel discretionary acts, see Bronson v. Board of Probation and Parole, 491 Pa. 549, 421 A.2d 1021, 1023 (1980), and a parole decision is characterized as a discretionary act by statute, see 61 Pa.C.S. § 331.19, and by courts, see, e.g., Greenholtz v. Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex Inmates, 442 U.S. 1, 10, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 2105, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979).